Introduction e
Have you ever wondered what makes people shop in stores that sell new things while others prefer rummaging through shelves of old items? Is there something special about these old things or are they just cheaper? Is there a connection that people feel towards certain products or objects that they buy? Is this connection inherent in the thing itself or does it come from its history?
I am a graduate student studying Anthropology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and over the past couple months I have conducted a small research in two 2nd hand stores in Leuven, to get to the heart of why people shop 2nd hand.
I picked this research topic because personally I will pick a rickety, old chair over an Ikea model any day, and nine times out of ten will spend days searching for that chair instead of buying it at a convenient store selling 50 identical chairs with alternating colors and styles. There is a certain feeling I get when I rummage through old furniture and see it: YES, there it is, the perfect chair. This of course does not only apply to furniture but it is a sort of fervent mania that encompasses almost everything used. In my opinion old things have this inherent sense of character and are infinitely more pleasing to consume. So I went out on a search to see if other people have this affinity towards shopping 2nd hand as well.